MasterCard releases latest results of its Mobile Payments Readiness Index

Mobile Commerce

Mobile Commerce

The credit card giant has published the findings of its analysis of 34 countries.

MasterCard Worldwide has now revealed the results of its international analysis that involved 34 countries and how prepared they are to use three different forms of technology on their smartphones, presented in the MasterCard Mobile Payments Readiness Index (MPRI).

The MPRI includes an examination of how ready the various markets are for contactless point of sale, m-commerce, and person-to-person transactions using their mobile devices. What it determined was that although there were no two markets alike, the primary factor that will determine the success of driving worldwide adoption of the technology forward will be consumer readiness.

The most prepared markets are Singapore, Canada, the U.S., Kenya, and South Korea.

The MPRI also showed that though mobile payments are still in their very earliest stages of adoption, all of the markets around the world – ranging from those that are driven by technology and compact, such as in Singapore, to those that are more integrated and highly scaled, such as in the United Kingdom – are moving forward in the direction to giving mobile devices a meaningful share of the full mix of options for consumers.

Young, wealthy consumers, aged 18 through 34, are the most willing to use the technology.

In some markets, for example, Australia, this demographic is the most likely to recognize the value in using a smartphone or other device as an alternative to credit and debit cards or cash. Though in most markets, this group was primarily male ,the opposite was the case in Egypt, China, and the Philippines, where women showed more interest in using this method.

The MPRI report also indicated that partnerships among the top mobile payments companies are vital to propelling the technology forward in the commercial marketplace. This requires telecom, financial institutions, technology providers, and governments to work together to establish an environment that encourages a marketplace that will reach critical mass.

According to the MasterCard Worldwide vice president of global insights, Theodore Iacobuzio, “Technology infrastructure, a responsive regulatory environment and a robust economy are table stakes for the advancement of mobile payments.”

 

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